HONOLULU -- President Barack Obama is expected to take executive action next week to expand background checks on gun sales, according to an individual whose gun control advocacy group has been briefed by administration officials about the timing.

The person was not authorized to discuss details before the announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. White House officials wouldn't confirm the timing. Spokesman Eric Schultz said the president would prefer that Congress act, but he knows that prospect is unlikely.

"That is why he has asked his team to scrub existing legal authorities to see if there's any additional action we can take administratively," Schultz said Thursday. "The president has made clear he's not satisfied with where we are, and expects that work to be completed soon."

White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said earlier in December that recommendations being submitted to Obama will include measures to expand background checks.

The president has consistently expressed frustration after mass shootings, saying it shouldn't be so easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.

Currently, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to seek background checks on potential firearm purchasers. But advocacy groups say some of the people who sell firearms at gun shows are not federally licensed, increasing the chance of sales to customers prohibited by law from purchasing a gun.

The source familiar with the administration's efforts said the executive action is expected to set a "reasonable threshold" for when sellers have to seek a background check. That person didn't know whether it would be based on the number of guns sold or revenue generated through gun sales.

The National Rifle Association opposes expanded background check systems. The organization's Institute for Legislative Action says studies have shown that people sent to state prison because of gun crimes typically get guns through theft, the black market or family and friends.

Also, many purchases by criminals are made from straw purchasers who pass background checks. "No amount of background checks can stop these criminals," says the group's website.

Advertisements

Latest Canada & World News

Layla El-Azzi’s letter to Santa Claus wasn’t a wish list filled with items such as a new bike, or clothes or the latest toy even. In fact, it wasn’t a list at all. The nine-year-old girl had one simple request for Saint Nick this year – to end the dispute between Nova Scotia’s government and the province’s public school teachers.
Source

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump named fast-food executive Andy Puzder to head the Department of Labor on Thursday, drawing criticism from labour advocates worried about his opposition to a higher minimum wage and government regulation of the workplace.
Source

Members of the Simon Fraser University swim team shed their coats and kicked off their boots as they went “swimming” on a snow covered football field. Donning only speedos and goggles, the group of swimmers dove into the shin-deep snow – unusual for Burnaby, B.C.
Source

Airlines could let passengers make in-flight phone calls using Wi-Fi under a proposal from federal regulators.
Flight attendants and others have complained that the calls could be disruptive. But the Department of Transportation said Thursday that it envisioned allowing the calls if airlines tell all customers about the policy when they buy their tickets.
Source

PARIS - Both the rat and Nadine Mahe des Portes panicked when she inadvertently stepped on the rodent on her walk back from work through Paris. "I heard a terrible squeak," the property agent recalled with a shudder.
Source

PARIS -- Both Nadine Mahe des Portes and the rat panicked when she inadvertently stepped on it on her walk back from work through Paris. "I heard a terrible squeak," the property agent recalled with a shudder.
Source

An online threat against a Toronto high school was written by a student who attended classes with the same students police say he threatened to kill. Police say, on Tuesday morning, a 17-year-old male was arrested for allegedly plotting an attack against Oakwood C.I.
Source

FILE -- In this Oct, 22, 2016 file photo, Iraqi security forces inspect one of the damaged buildings after deadly clashes between Iraqi security forces and members of the Islamic state in the city of Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq.
Source

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korean lawmakers on Friday impeached President Park Geun-hye, a stunning and swift fall for the country’s first female leader amid protests that drew millions into the streets in united fury.
After the vote, parliamentary officials hand-delivered formal documents to the presidential Blue House that stripped Park of her power and allowed the country’s No.
Source

Hundreds of civilians streamed out of eastern Aleppo by foot on Friday as Syrian troops and allied forces waged a relentless campaign to drive rebels from their rapidly crumbling enclave.
Russia announced Thursday that the Syrian army was suspending combat operations to allow for the evacuation of civilians from besieged rebel-held districts, but residents and medics inside eastern Aleppo said there was no letup in the bombardment.
Source